Early Departures
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Like Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End and Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us, Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds, author of Opposite of Always, is a powerful and deeply moving YA contemporary novel with a speculative twist about love, death, grief, and friendship.
What if you could bring your best friend back to life—but only for a short time?
Jamal’s best friend, Q, doesn’t know that he died, and that he’s about to die . . . again. He doesn’t know that Jamal tried to save him. And that the reason they haven’t been friends for two years is because Jamal blames Q for the accident that killed his parents.
But what if Jamal could have a second chance? A new technology allows Q to be reanimated for a few weeks before he dies . . . permanently. And Q’s mom is not about to let anyone ruin this miracle by telling Q about his impending death. So how can Jamal fix everything if he can’t tell Q the truth?
Early Departures weaves together loss, grief, friendship, and love to form a wholly unique homage to the bonds that bring people together for life—and beyond.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Though they were once the closest of friends, it's been awhile since teens Jamal and Quincy have spoken following his parents' accidental death two years ago, Jamal cut ties without explaining why. After the two have a fight at a beach party one evening, Quincy drowns while trying to save another. Carrying the guilt of the argument and the friends' past, Jamal accompanies Quincy's mother to a facility that can bring him back temporarily from the dead. Seeing this as a chance to make amends and revive the friendship, Jamal wrestles with the pain of his parents' death and seeks to get Quincy to forgive him before his reanimation ends. In this gratifying contemporary novel, Reynolds (Opposite of Always) tenderly explores the complexities of decision-making while grieving, the limited life spans of close relationships, and the painful unpredictability of death. Jamal and Quincy's casually comedic dynamic adds a lifeline of hope to an otherwise heartbreaking narrative that reminds readers to make the most of the time they are given. Ages 14 up.
